1801-S AMS HHS S3023.2

SHB 1801 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Health & Human Services

    Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

    "NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature declares that the granting of temporary licenses under this act is not intended to be a solution to the shortage of dental hygienists in the state of Washington.  The legislature further declares that the long-term solution to these shortages must be addressed by expanding dental hygiene training programs at the state's colleges and universities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 18.29 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The department shall issue a temporary license without the examination required by this chapter to any applicant who, as determined by the secretary:

    (a) Holds a valid license in another state that allows the scope of practice in subsection (3)(a) through (j) of this section;

    (b) Is currently engaged in active practice in another state.  For the purposes of this section, "active practice" means five hundred sixty hours of practice in the preceding twenty-four months;

    (c) Files with the secretary documentation certifying that the applicant:

    (i) Has graduated from an accredited dental hygiene school approved by the secretary;

    (ii) Has successfully completed the dental hygiene national board examination; and

    (iii) Is licensed to practice in another state;

    (d) Provides information as the secretary deems necessary pertaining to the conditions and criteria of the uniform disciplinary act, chapter 18.130 RCW;

    (e) Demonstrates to the secretary a knowledge of Washington state law pertaining to the practice of dental hygiene, including the administration of legend drugs;

    (f) Pays any required fees; and

    (g) Meets requirements for AIDS education.

    (2) The term of the temporary license issued under this section is eighteen months and it is nonrenewable.

    (3) A person practicing with a temporary license granted under this section has the authority to perform hygiene procedures that are limited to:

    (a) Oral inspection and measuring of periodontal pockets;

    (b) Patient education in oral hygiene;

    (c) Taking intra-oral and extra-oral radiographs;

    (d) Applying topical preventive or prophylactic agents;

    (e) Polishing and smoothing restorations;

    (f) Oral prophylaxis and removal of deposits and stains from the surface of the teeth;

    (g) Recording health histories;

    (h) Taking and recording blood pressure and vital signs;

    (i) Performing subgingival and supragingival scaling; and

    (j) Performing root planing.

    (4)(a) A person practicing with a temporary license granted under this section may not perform the following dental hygiene procedures unless authorized in (b) or (c) of this subsection:

    (i) Give injections of local anesthetic;

    (ii) Place restorations into the cavity prepared by a licensed dentist and afterwards carve, contour, and adjust contacts and occlusion of the restoration;

    (iii) Soft tissue curettage; or

    (iv) Administer nitrous oxide/oxygen analgesia.

    (b) A person licensed in another state who can demonstrate substantively equivalent licensing standards in the administration of local anesthetic may receive a temporary endorsement to administer local anesthesia.

    (c) A person licensed in another state who can demonstrate substantively equivalent licensing standards in restorative procedures may receive a temporary endorsement for restorative procedures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 18.29 RCW to read as follows:

    A person granted a temporary license under this chapter who does not meet the requirements for substantively equivalent licensing standards in restorative or local anesthetic must submit proof of completion of approved education in these procedures before being eligible to take the dental hygiene examination.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 18.29 RCW to read as follows:

    The secretary in consultation with the dental hygiene examining committee shall develop rules and definitions to implement this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.125 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The state board for community and technical colleges, in coordination with the committee under this chapter, shall identify health professional training needs not currently met by community and technical colleges in the state.  It shall recommend creation of new training programs necessary to meet the shortages and identify where such programs shall be located within the state's community and technical college system.

    (2) Every publicly funded community and technical college identified by the board in subsection (1) of this section shall include in their biennial budget, and institutional plan, a description of the training programs that will be created by the college or institute to alleviate the shortages.

    (3) Health personnel shortages shall be determined in accordance with the health personnel resource plan required by this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.  Sections 2 through 4 of this act shall expire on June 30, 1997.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.  (1) The department of health shall report to the legislature by December 1, 1996, on the need to continue granting temporary licenses to dental hygienists.  The report shall identify alternatives to granting temporary licenses that meet the same goals and objectives, including increasing the number of dental hygienists trained in the state of Washington.

    (2) A temporary licenses granted by the department under sections 2 through 4 of this act is valid for the period issued."

SHB 1801 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Health & Human Services

    On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "state;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "adding new sections to chapter 18.29 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28B.125 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date."

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